Display apparatus for bulletin printers



t f- J. w. LONG ET AL 51$?LAY APPARATUS FOR BULLETIN PRINTERS FiledApril 7, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A 9 m. w 4 7 o A W H 8 J Aw 3 AA W 2 V A W V O l H 4 5 5 n1 5 I A .q 9 3 w 0 l 9 l 9 2 W N V G E N mm JT i Oct. 31, 1933. L ET 1,932,977

DISPLAY APPARATUS FOR BULLETIN PRINTERS A Filed April 7, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2 F|G.3 Viz "K "2 68 l 67 W 44 i h I I2 I r 66 1m,22' \yr Q 4 i A i 1s w h'" 'fii N m: 19 g k q g MM 82 M r g; y

INVENTOR T Ig FffNcS Patented Oct. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES DISPLAYAPPARATUS FOR BULLETIN PRINTERS James W. Long and Thomas G. Collings,Plainfield, N. J.', assignors to The Western Union Telegraph Company,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 7, 1932.Serial No. 603,876

16 Claims.

This invention relates to a telegraphically controlled bulletin printerfor use in public places such as show windows, hotel lobbies, etc., orin private oflices, for displaying current news items transmittedtelegraphically from a central station.

In a prior patent to Campbell et al., No. 950,473, granted March 1,1910, there is shown a bulletin page printer for displaying news itemsin enlarged characters upon a continuous web several feet in width. Dueto the bulk of this apparatus it is limited to use in relatively fewplaces, such as newspaper oflices where the noise of operation and thesize of the device are not objectionable. The present invention differsfrom the Campbell device among other things, in the printing of the newsitems on a narrow sheet several inches in width in characters of normalsize, one of the objects being to produce such a device which, is of asmall compact structure of pleasing proportions and quiet in operation.

Another object is to provide such a device in which the printing unit isindependent of the paper take-up mechanism, so that the printer may bereadily removed for repair or replacement.

Another object is to provide a bulletin printer in which all of theoperating mechanism is enclosed in a sound insulating cabinet and inwhich the printed web is extended to the exterior of the cabinet fordisplay purposes, thereby enhancing the legibility of the printed pageand substantially eliminating the noise of operation.

'Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

In accordance with our invention we employ a type wheel printer, theprinting wheel of which moves transversely across the paper to print aline. The paper passes from one reel between the type wheel andassociated. platen and thence to the exterior of the enclosing cabinetand vertically up the face of a rigid panel, passing back into thecabinet at the upper end thereof at which position it is engaged by thepaper takeup mechanism. This latter mechanism serves to maintain thepaper taut against the panel and to advance the same, line by line, upthe face of the panel. The successive impacts of the paper against thetype wheel, at a rapid rate tend to set the paper into vibration andproduce objectionable noise. The noise of impact is substantiallyeliminated by acoustically treating the container in which the printingmechanism is en tirely enclosed and the vibration of the paper isreduced by the dampening action of the panel with which the paper isheld in contact. The

noise of vibration is further reduced by acoustically treating the panelover which .the paper passes.

The take-up mechanism is arranged to apply a resilient pull on the paperat all times, the opposite margins of the web being tensionedindependently to insure both sides of the paper being maintained tautalong the panel, and at the same time suflicient resiliency beingprovided to enable the paper to be forced against the type wheel duringprinting.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, reference willbe had to the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly cut away, of a bulletin printerembodying our invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the paper take-up mechanism; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the operating mechanism is shownenclosed in a cabinet 10, having a base 11, a rear wall 12 provided witha hinged door 13, a top 14 having a hinged section 15, side walls 16 anda front wall 1'7 having a recessed panel 18, sloping sides 19 and 20 andtransparent windows 21 and 22. A source of light 23 having a reflector24 is arranged above window 22 and serves to illuminate the panel 18.The window 21 is provided for the purpose of rendering the printingmechanism25contained in the base of the cabinet to be visible.The'margins 26 and 27 of the front wall 17 of the cabinet are stepped inmodernistic design purely for ornamental purposes.

The paper upon which the printing occurs is held on a suitable reel 28carried between the side plates 29 and 30 of the printing mechanism 25and passes from the reel between the type wheel 31 and platen 32, thenceover a roller 33 and through a narrow aperture 34 at the base of thepanel 18 to the exterior of the cabinet, being drawn upwardly in contactwith the face of the panel by a take-up mechanism indicated generally at35 carried upon a shelf 36 in the upper portion of the cabinet. Thepaper reenters the cabinet through an elongated aperture 37 at the upperend of the panel 18 and passes between feed rollers 38 and 39 (Figure 1)adjacent the margins thereof and cooperating pressure rollers 40(Figures 2 and 3).

The paper passes from the feed rollers 38 and 39 over a guide plate 42and through an aperture 43 in the rear wall of the cabinet. A knifeblade 44 is arranged adjacent the aperture 43 to facilitate the tearingof the web into convenient lengths as it emerges from the cabinet forposting upon suitable clip boards.

The printing mechanism 25 is of the Burry type such as shownin U. S.Patent No. 680,693 granted August 20, 1901, and therefore has not beenillustrated in detail. Any other page printing mechanism in which thepage or web does not move from right to left for character spacing maybe employed. The general class of printers having a movable type wheelor movable type basket are suitable for this purpose. The type wheel 31of this printer is mounted upon a triangular shaft and is movedtransversely of the web as each character is printed by a yoke carriedby the sleeve 46 slidingly mounted on a rod 47 and drawn to the right toeffect letter spacing by a cord 48 wound upon a drum 49 against thetension of springs 50 and 51. Carriage return is effected by a secondcord 52 extending from the sleeve 46 to the left and winding upon a drum53 operated by the springs 50 and 51 in response to carriage returnsignals. An inking roller 54 is carried by the yoke and bears againstthe periphery of the type wheel.

The type wheel is revolved.into printing position by an escapementmechanism not shown controlled by variable numbers of currentalternations and at the completion of each line of printing the reel 28is released to permit a metered amount of paper to be withdrawntherefrom by the take-up mechanism 35. Normally the reel 28 is lockedagainst rotation by a pawl 55, holding the lower end of thepaper againstmovement. The take-up rollers 38 and 39 are spring tensioned so as toexert an upward pull on the paper at all times, thus maintaining thepaper taut across the support 18 and permitting it to yield sufficientlyso as to be movable against the type wheel during the printing stroke.While this movement of the paper during printing is so slight and rapidas not to be discernible, some provision must be provided to enable themovement to occur and the paper to be taken up immediately after eachprinting stroke. If the paper is fixedly held at each end it will imposea heavy load on the press magnet and if the press magnet is suflicientlypowerful to withdraw a small amount of paper from either the reel 28 orthe take-up rollers, slack will be created enabling the paper tocontinuously, lie against the type wheel as it revolves andmoves axiallyso as to smudge the paper. The provision of a spring take-up mechanismenables the paper to be held taut at all times while permitting sumcientyielding of the paper to effect printing.

If the printer is of a form in which the type wheel is struck againstthe platen, or of the well known type bar design, such yielding of thepaper web is not required at the printing stroke. The spring take-upmechanism herein described may however be used without disadvantageas-it draws the paper up when required. In such cases, of course, otherforms of take-up mechanism may be employed, such as a reel driven froman electric motor through a friction clutch. Also if desired a re-windreel may be used with any type of take-up mechanism on which the web maybe wound up after passing through the take-up mechanism.

The take-up rollers 38 and 39 are loosely mounted on a shaft iournaledin bearings 61 and 82 on opposite sides of the web. A disc 63 is rigid yfixed to the shaft 60 and surrounding the shaft between the disc 63 androllers 38 and 39 are two spiral sp ings 64 and 85. One end of eachspring has a radially turned portion bearing frictionally on the disc63, the opposite ends of the springs 64. 85 being connected respectivelyto the take-up rollers 38 and 39. Consequently, as the disc 63 isrevolved by the shaft 60 it tends to turn the rollers'in a direction topull the paper upwardly across the panel 18,

The shaft 60 is rotated, step-by-step, by a winding magnet 66 having anarmature 67 pivoted on a shaft 68 and having a pawl carrying arm 69provided with a pawl '10 pressed by a spring 71 against a ratchet wheel72 so as to rotate the same whenever the armature 67 is attracted. Theratchet wheel 72 is mounted upon a counter shaft 74 and is held duringretraction of the pawl '70 by a holding pawl '75. The shaft '74 isoperatively connected to the shaft 60 by reduction gearing comprising apinion 76 formed on the shaft 74, gears 77 and 78 loosely mounted on theshaft 60, gears '79 and 80 loosely mounted on the shaft '74, and a gear81 fixed on the shaft 60.

The printing in the Burry ticker is effected by a prolonged impulsefollowing the stepping signals and we employ this prolonged impulse tooperate the winding magnet 66 although it is to be understood that anyconvenient source of periodic signals may be employed for this purpose.As each character is printed, the magnet 66 is operated so as to rotatethe disc 63 through a small angle, thus gradually winding the springs 64and to a predetermined tension. Overwinding of the springs is preventedby slippage between the disc 83 and the radially turned ends of thesprings when such predetermined tension is obtained. Since each of therollers 38 and 39 is acted upon separately by its individual spring 1they pull the opposite margins of the 'web independently and therebymaintain the same taut at all times eliminating any tendency of the webto wrinkle or feed unevenly.

The surface of the panel 18 may be acoustically .by the spring take-upmechanism and which serves to dampen any tendency of the paper tovibrate.

It will be noted that we have produced a display apparatus for abulletin printer in which the paper yields at the time of impact,tension on the paper being maintained substantially constant by thewinding mechanism and of just sumcient strength to maintain the papertaut without imposing a severe load on the press magnet. This load iskept relatively low by arranging the printing platen, the face of thepanel and the surface of the take-up rollers substantially in alignmentso that the pull is substantially vertical without requiring the sharpbending of the paper around guide rollers, such as rollers 33 and 3'7.

The maintenance of the paper in contact with the elastic surface of thepanel eliminates noise of vibration due to the rapid impact of theplaten against the paper and the-complete enclosure of the printing andtake-up mechanism in an acoustically treated cabinet reduces the noiseincident to the operation of these mechanisms. to a negligible degree. I

The provision of the window 21 enables the operation of the type wheelto be observed at all times and permits the last'printed character to beread.

The printer and the take-up mechanism are formed as separate units tofacilitate the rethe Printer with'the relay power box 84. This 1.

power box is mounted on the interior of the door where it is readilyaccessible upon opening of the door.

Obviously, various modifications and changes in the apparatus shown willoccur to those versed in the art and, therefore, we desire to have itunderstood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise arrangement"shown and reserve to ourselves all changes within the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a web take-up mechanism, a panel extendingbetween said printer and take-up mechanism and means for maintainingsaid web continuously in contact with said panel as it passes from theprinter to the take-up mechanism.

2. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a web take-up mechanism, a panel extendingbetween said printer and take-up mechanism having a resilient surfaceportion and means for maintaining said web continuously in contact withsaid resilient surface portion of the panel as it passes from theprinter to the take-up mechanism, whereby vibration of the web isdamped.

3.. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a panel having a sound absorbing surfaceextending upwardly from said printer and means for drawing the webupwardly in contact with said panel.

4. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a. telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a panel having vibration damping surfaceportions, said panel extending upwardly from the printer and resilienttake-up means for drawing the web upwardly across said panel and forapplying a continuous tension thereto, to maintain the web in contactwith said vibration damping portions.

5. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a panel extending upwardly from saidprinter and separately driven take-up means acting at opposite marginsof the web to draw the same upwardly across the panel and for applying acontinuous tension thereto to maintain the web in contact with thepanel.

6. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web a. panel extending upwardly from saidprinter and separately driven take-up means acting at opposite marginsof the web to draw the same upwardly across the panel -and for applyinga continuous tension thereto to maintain the web in contact with thepanel, said take-up means being resilient whereby the web is renderedyieldable during the printing stroke.

'7. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a platen for said printer across which theweb passes, a panel extending upwardly from said printer and separatelydriven take-up means acting at opposite margins of the web to draw thesame upwardly across the panel and to apply a continuous tension theretoto maintain the web in contact with the panel, said take-up means,platen, and the surface of the panel being disposed substantially inline.

8. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web,

a platen for said printer across which the web' passes, a panelextending upwardly from said printer, take-up means for drawing the webupwardly across the panel, said take-up means, the platen and thesurface of the panel being disposed substantially in line.

9. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web,

a web take-up mechanism spaced above said printer, a cabinet enclosingthe printer and takeup mechanism and means for directing the webupwardly from printing position over an exterior surface of thecabinetto the take-up mechanism substantially in a straight line.

10. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a web take-up mechanism spaced above saidprinter, a cabinet enclosing the printer and having a panel extendingupwardly between the printer and take-up mechanism and means fordirecting the web upwardly from printing position over said panel to thetake-up mechanism substantially in a straight line.

11. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a web take-up mechanism spaced above aprinter, a panel having a web vibration damp ing surface extendingupwardly between the printer and take-up mechanism and means fordirecting the web upwardly from the printer over said panel to thetake-up mechanism substantially in a straight line.

12.-In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a web take-up mechanism spaced above saidprinter, a cabinet enclosing the printer and takeup mechanism, means fordrawing the paper upwardly over the front wall of the cabinet and meansfor discharging the paper through a rear wall of the cabinet.

13. In a bulletin display apparatus, a web having bulletins printedthereon, a cabinet enclosing a supply roll and a take-up roll for :theweb, a panel in said cabinet, means for passing the web upwardly acrosssaid panel and concealed illuminating means disposed within the cabinetforwardly of the panel for illuminating the web.

14. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a cabinet enclosing said printer, means fordrawing the web from the printer and directing it vertically across aface of the cabinet and a transparent window in the cabinet arranged topermit the enclosed portion of the web to be observed substantially fromthe point adjacent the printing position of the printer to the point ofexit of the web.

15. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a cabinet enclosing said printer, means fordrawing the web from the printer and directing it across a face of thecabinet, said cabinet having a recess therein adjacent to the printer sothat the web may be observed at the point where printing occurs.

16. In a bulletin printing apparatus, a telegraph printer adapted toprint transversely of a web, a cabinet enclosing said printer, means fordrawing the web from the printer and through a slit in the cabinet anddirecting it across a face of the cabinet, said cabinet having a windowdisposed adjacent to the printer so that the web may be observed at thepoint where printing occurs.

- JAMES W. LONG.

THOMAS G. COLLINGS.

DIS OLAIMER l' ,932,977.-Jd1 nes W. Long and Themes G. Collings,Plainfield, N. J. DISPLAY Ag'rnu'rv's FOR BULLETIN PhI NTEns. Patentdated October 31, 1933.

Disclaimer filed March 5, 1937, by the assignee, The Western UnionTelegraph Company. I

Hereby enters this disclaimer to the subject Ihatter constituting claims1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the patent. I

[om-w Gazette April 6, 1937.

